India is getting ready to roll out BPaL (bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid) regimen for all multi/extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis patients.
This is a significant move in the country’s battle against M/XDR-TB with the new regime.
It is indicating good results in such countries including Pakistan, South Africa, Ukraine, etc.
Currently, India has a 56% treatment success rate for MDR/RR-TB cases, and 48% for XDR-TB cases.
In 2022, WHO has recommended the six-month regimens BPaL (bedaquiline + pretomanid + linezolid) and BPaLM (BPaL + moxifloxacin) as treatment options for most forms of drug-resistant TB.
The estimated number of drug-resistant TB in India has been reduced by 21% from 1.4 lakh in 2015 to 1.1 lakh in 2022.